program is it the sixty that is set to end his policy with his successor inheriting a catholic church rife with sexual abuse and corruption allegations live pictures here of him saying goodbye to the cardinals. foreign policy friction looms over the french president's made in visit to moscow for high level talks and debate. iran and syria and even mali all topics of contention between france and russia will they get fired out today on john thomas in moscow coming up i've got the details. and as the saying goes you should know your enemy both but both i should say israeli and palestinian press restrictions are making journalists work and lives increasingly difficult.

to. live from moscow you're watching archie with me and he's now a straight to our top story this hour pope benedict the sixteenth set to retire later on thursday becoming the first pope to abdicate in six centuries live pictures here of him saying goodbye to cardinals at the van again at the vatican i should say he's stated today that he wants to exit public life and remain hidden until the world and he's leaving his successor to be named next month to redeem the church's reputation following the string of child abuse and corruption scandals are caesar in to go lucia has more from rome. when we came here we spoke to quite a few vatican experts all of whom you know honestly agree that there is some major changes which should be implemented in the church they have older indicated that the pope is eighty five years old. he is

a rather old man there's no getting around it as well as a lot of the cardinals in the quarter which is essentially the government body of the vatican they're roughly the same age and they're all of course there are some issues which come along with it and of course a lot of them have also said that modernity and acceptance of things that are happening in the world right now is something that the cardinals as well as the next pope should keep in mind come friday benedict the sixteenth retired to seclusion and prayer while in the vatican there's a feeling the real work is only just beginning it's not just about selecting a new bishop of rome some say but the very future of the catholic church the catholic church is undergoing a very important crisis it is a crisis at two levels it is a government tries these entities a crisis of the believe are. in the last year or so the world was focused on the government crisis and developed the come to korea pope benedict was

a pope who is a great intellectual i think you're a theologian but he has not a strong hand to lead the victoria has not the temperament of a government so there was a lack of leadership which culminated in the great scandals over but the leaks are far from the splendor of the sistine chapel a closer look at the recent events in the vatican highlight disillusionment and frustration with the church among some of the top of the i distanced myself from the church when i became an adult when i started talking about what had been tonic would especially after all the scandals broke out in the catholic church when i realized that it doesn't represent my spirituality has benedict the sixteenth may have been the first pope with a twitter account but many argue this measure alone was not strong enough in appealing to the masses and there will be no more tweets once pope benedict the sixteenth steps down will be she's there to transparency the age of the people the churches should be properly so. considering.

the great assets now you see. the problem in the media they're really working on leases he went to change things for people the gabrielli of this inability to face up to and much less to punish those who may be responsible for tainting the image of the church is the deciding factor in abandoning catholicism. there's another scandal with the girl who disappeared in the vatican twenty years ago and they say they may have found her remains police are leading the investigation but instead of helping them obstructing the investigation it's unlikely the. state's on and on top of all those cases are part of what this is just disgusting the list of controversial events involving catholic priests or vatican officials reads like a tabloid reports of sex abuse pedophilia accusations allegedly corruption and

possible ties with the mafia while the media especially in italy has been having a field day with the scandals the vatican other states silent or rebuffed or to say sions but those things may be looking rather grim for the seat of st peter's at a first glance there's still a chance the catholic church can make a comeback. with the church really splitting through but then came out stronger could be stronger with a come to the fore because. the power. base from. the to the church was the spiritual but in spite of that personality recent relations have left me wondering if the holy see has been blind the world is rapidly changing and the catholic church has failed to keep up pace sure it has seen a fair number. ups and downs as well as scandal in two thousand year long history

but there is opinion that perhaps taking an unpleasant development sweeping it under the carpet and sealing it with the people ring for secrecy is a tradition better left in the past in rome. r.t. . barbara doris the outreach director of the survivors network of those abused by priests as the church most persecuted child offenders within the organization in order to win back the public support how can you trust an institution that will continue to put the needs of predators above the safety of children and until that changes i don't see how any responsible parent can just blindly trust that the church will do the right thing the people that can protect the children are the bishops we have police and prosecutors who can arrest predators but often by the time a victim finds the courage and the strength to come forward the statute of limitations has run and prosecutors and police can't do much bishops are on the front line

bishops have the power they often hear about these predators and they have chosen to move them protect them shield them from from their crimes if the bishops were forced to turn over everything they know about these crimes to police and prosecutors would have a much better chance of protecting the children we feel that's what the pope can do he can set the example he can discipline even a handful of the complicit bishops who fit you know who've been involved in this cover up cardinal mahoney would be a prime example cardinal brady these men could be disciplined for the part they've played and once he did that he would set the tone of this behavior not only of the predators but of those to protect them will no longer be tolerated. we're always interested in your opinion on all the stories we're covering the pope's departure and the future of the catholic church is no exception today we've launched a poll on the matter in the section of our website let's take

a look at what the numbers are so far forty five percent the majority say it will drown the catholic church amid many scandals to come in the future just over a quarter say a growing influence will have growing influence i should say and be a counterbalance to islam fourteen percent say that it will undergo schism leaving the vatican powerless in another scandal and the minority think that there will be a resurgence but only after reform. talks are expected in moscow as president vladimir putin hosts french leader front swallow and divisions over syria and iran remains the key points of foreign policy to scored thomas song thomas is covering a long maiden visit to the russian capital. it's certainly going to be an interesting day. alond has come to moscow for the first time to discuss trade

relations and also to improve relations between the two countries as there are some tensions between the two but the main points of interest for russia are what's happening in iran in syria and in mali let's break that down for you first of all about the syria issue back when these two met in the summer not here in moscow but there they did have clashes about the topic of syria a lot saying at that time that bashar al assad needs to go must be ousted. saying no this is not the case that the only way that anything can happen in syria for it to be real change needs to be bilateral talks or talks with all parties involved actually pointing to what happened in libya saying that there was foreign intervention there was an overthrow of moammar gadhafi and look and situation in libya is no better than it was before moving on to iran that. basically states that he supports tough sanctions against the iranian regime aimed at specifically eliminating their nuclear program putin says that iran actually has

the right to pursue peaceful nuclear program but that it has to have tough oversight from the i.a.e.a. so two different positions there now when it comes to mali russia actually backs the u.s. position in allowing france to be involved in that operation in northern mali but says that the destabilization in that country is directly related to the failed policies like syria and in libya so there are some bones of contention there another thing that people are interested in is back in the beginning of this year between gave famed actor gerard depardieu a russian passport because he was not happy with the seventy five percent proposed taxes in france and so some contention there of see how the facts even brought to the table at all are brought up but of course we'll be keeping track of this as it happens and will bring me more information as it becomes available. meanwhile

washington has reiterated its refusal to directly supply weapons to the syrian opposition but the u.s. and its allies including france are reportedly planning to boost non-lethal aid to the rebels with supplies that could soon include armored vehicles some analysts say there's no chance of dialogue as long as the militants feel they can fight on with the foreign back. this is just called free of politic we know this from sentry's ago international politics is the way. things happen it's not about the people so and if they really wanted to help the syrian people they should have filed or sought a political settlement from the beginning now we're entering almost a third year of the conflict through and by continuing to fuel this conflict by bringing weapons and money to certain part of the opposition and it just getting worse and worse there are options to buy political settlements and bring some parts of the position that is willing to find

a solution and discuss with the regime and get syria out of this conundrum but unfortunately unfortunately are some players on the international scene who say one thing and do something different if really really interested in finding a solution and stopping the bloodshed the first thing to do is just off funding and stop breaking weapons to the armed groups and dead way that would be obliged to sit at the table if this is not this isn't made by the international players i don't see how it's going to stop. and later in the program we report on the latest developments in the case of u.s. army private bradley manning accused of highly sensitive beliefs at the washington summit a navy seal to prove his alleged actions aided al qaeda terrorists. well . it's technology innovation all the developments from around

russia we've got the future covered. to build a new. mission to teach me. this is why you should care only. more news today. these are the images. from the streets of canada. today.

and. i.

you're watching r t a live from the russian capital israel has close off the main

supply route in into gaza in response to recent rocket fire from the strip the first since november conflict as tensions rise some journalists in the region are finding their work and at times livelihoods affected by the ongoing standoff artist paula slayer investigates how those trying to spread light on the situation are coming under pressure from both sides of the divide. november last year israel and gaza are at war and in the middle of it a gaza journalist reporting in hebrew for leading israeli newspaper it was the last major story some rami would write for the hebrew press a month later gaza's ruling hamas party banned palestinian journalists from working with israeli media accusing it of being hostile tel aviv refuses to recognize hamas and regards it as a terrorist organization and a magnet for mother i do not understand this decision unfortunately i feel that our struggle will have less meaning if we do not speak to the israeli media and make them hear our message sami feels he's on

a personal crusade to help both sides better understand each other when his nine year old daughter was hit by an israeli missile it was his israeli editors who arranged for her to be brought across the border and treated and it was in the newspapers that he published his anger and anguish over israel's bombardment of gaza. the how to. israelis using the media in its war against us in this war journalists are under attack they want to kill all our words and reports that prove that there were war crimes in gaza therefore the has a heavy in of the attackers coming from both sides of the border israeli journalist two are banned from working in gaza but ironically it's not hamas but tel aviv that stops them deeming it too dangerous for them to report from their very scary place freshly for israeli of some a masked people came to a palestinian cameraman in gaza they gave him twenty five thousand dollars and we told him that the next time the jewish is going to enter gaza please tell us where

it's going to be a route with a car we're going to kidnap both of you and take you take him and release you ohad him oh is among a handful of israeli journalists who'd regularly work in gaza but after his government made it illegal six years ago his station employed gaza based palestinian journalists now because of hamas is ruling even that has become impossible it's. very problematic decision from us for a lot of other decisions that the hamas made i think that the problem of normalization in. connecting trying working with the israeli media the result is that the only reports leaving gaza but all those hamas sanctions not particularly promising in one of the recent human rights watch report that accuses a muscle harassing assaulting an arbitrarily detaining journalists israel too has come under fire for deliberately targeting reporters and media houses affiliated to her must join the last war in gaza is well thought twenty places in the two

thousand and thirteen world press freedom index due to the actions of its army in the palestinian territories these two journalists are with sami because he speaks of mice he and engages israeli audiences. because you spend so much time in palestinian areas with few israelis day to trade the media blackout does little to shed light on the fate and future of ordinary gazans it also perpetuate stereotypes on both sides of the border that have done nothing but breed mistrust and hatred policy on t.v. television. does not take a look at some other news from around the world the leader of italy's five star movement which came third in the country's general election has ruled out a coalition with the center left describing the head of the democratic party appeared to read super sunday as a dead man talking to former comedian the big relocate he would not support any new government for political parties participated in the election with none of them

gaining enough seats to govern leaving the country in political deadlock the italian public demonstrated a strong anti austerity sentiment during the election leaving prime minister monti's party with the minority of the vote in both the lower house and the senate . accord in bahrain has put seven people behind bars for ten years each for attempting to murder. a police officer the incident occurred during ongoing anti-government demonstrations thirteen other people were acquitted becomes a day after two policemen were found not guilty of shooting a protester dead the rulings threatened to fuel more unrest in the sunni controlled kingdom that's been rocked by nonstop rallies for two years the authorities crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners have seen around eighty people killed on both sides and thousands arrested. the libyan government is said to urge the un to lift an arms embargo imposed during the two thousand and eleven uprising that brought down moammar gadhafi regime the plans were announced

by the prime minister as tripoli desperately seeks to rearm its military which has been struggling to take control of the country since the fall of gadhafi militias containing many former rebels hold much of the power on the ground across libya's vast territory. and with libya still rife with instability archie caught up with the country's former interim prime minister during the civil war of two thousand and eleven mahmoud jibril here's a glimpse of what he had to say. well first of all libya did not pick up its economy it's kind of a didn't pick up only the oil production was there as you know. it's a pity you know because the. contras you know. rushed into libya me the you know to start pumping oil again because it's connected to their way of life to their economies you know was better is to the projects all over the country. and i

think libya because of this oil was the subject. being targeted by too many countries libya. we use it at least is being seen as a most you know to find. for the lack of assistance that might be coming from there and i just think that's why libya. is the target for too many too many players and and. you can watch that full interview with mahmoud jibril on friday throughout the day here on r.t. washington is looking to summon more than one hundred forty witnesses to the trial of army private bradley manning accused of leaking classified u.s. data the prosecution plans are aimed at verifying allegations that manning's leaks

directly jeopardized american security the list of witnesses will include a navy seal from the raid that killed osama bin laden was likely to attempt to prove al qaeda benefited from the release of secret information journalist kevan gosper says it's purely an attempt to shift focus. the fear here i think is that you would be sensationalizing the proceedings and it would not it would make it nearly impossible for manning to have a fair trial it just because we've now been talking about terrorism terrorism and terrorism will get away from the fact that he is charged with the offense of releasing the information and they don't have to show that terrorists received it this will continue the obama administration has ushered in this era of pursuing whistleblowers and making certain that they are prosecuted and they go after them zealously in a manner that they do not go after other individuals that's been the thing i think

is the most particularly striking is you can have private contractors you can gauge in weapons smuggling like like the blackwater executives or you can have bankers that engage in financial fraud and they are pursued as jealously as whistle blowers . on our website right now the next level of russell's president here's what it could look like in fact a contest to find the perfect design is in full sway with suggestions ranging from extravagant vehicles to more traditional soviet style examples of your pay at our t.v. dot com. also the u.s. has officially labeled an environmental activist group struggling to protect wells in the pacific as pirates find out what that now means for the so-called anti weller's on mine. coming up shortly abby martin tackles mainstream media propaganda and breaking the sat.

i've got a lot of messages from our t.v. viewers who are. very concerned about drones living under skynet is not the american way and many are concerned about their safety and privacy congressman ted poe has introduced a bill that may address some people's concerns about drones this bill is the preserving american privacy act which clarifies how the government can use these drugs so basically the act adds bureaucracy to drone usage in order to restrict it in theory protecting people's privacy the thing is that one side is arguing for drone usage and the other side for bureaucratic restricted drone usage but what about not using drones to spy on americans ever no drones should be used on american territory period and overseas they seem to breed more terrorists than they

kill saying that there are only two sides to this issue for drones and well kind of for drones is absurd congressman poe if you would please be so kind as to change the name of your legislation to the drones are an acceptable form of tyranny act i would be very grateful to you sir but that's just my opinion.

please. sue live on one hundred thirty three months of food. if you know how. i mean. sleep really messed up. in her sleep the. worst for the. sake of a. small one.